What Could Have Been
by RecurringDilemmas
Summary: Multiple oneshots featuring mostly the Charming family. Third Chapter: Henry decides to show Emma something he made some time ago.
1. To Be Cursed

To Escape The Curse Is To Be Cursed

Summary: When the curse breaks, things didn't turn out as planned…

Angst/Family , AU

* * *

"I love you, Henry" Emma whispered shakily, desperately trying to hold back her sobs as she leans down to give her first, and last, kiss to her dying son.

Immediately after, a bright flash so pure radiates throughout the small town of Storybrooke. Not long after comes an earthshattering screech as the world around them quakes.

"What the –" Emma begins to cry out before she just stands there silently, shocked, watching as everyone pops out of existence. Dr. Whale, the nurses, that nun that she could never remember the name of…all just vanished out of thin air. She never had the time to question the fact that a pure white flash had come out of that kiss to her son, or register that her said son was now wide awake and very much alive.

"Emma?! What's happening?" Henry shouts over the screeching, grabbing for her hand as he looks around wildly. What appears to be vines, moss and other various green things you would find in the forest are quickly breaking through the windows and cracks in the walls around them.

Emma blinks as she looks back to her son, and despite everything going on around them, she takes a moment to take in her son and the relief that his eyes are open and the color is slowly returning to his cheeks. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Henry was never under any sleeping curse and died before she could find a way to steal the potion back from Gold.

"She took my happy ending away from me, that's what happened! The curse is broken, Storybrooke is turning back to what it once was, and everyone is back to the Enchanted Forest! Everything is ruined and we're stuck here, left to die if we don't get moving now!" a new voice yells out, quickly showing to be Regina as she rushes forward and reaches towards Henry. "C'mon Henry, we have to go. As quick as you can, you can rest when we reach safety".

Parts of the building start to break, only to fade away once broken away. In the missing spots, branches full of leaves were quick to replace. If it wasn't for this fact, Emma would have argued with Regina and demand that she leave Henry and her alone, that she could stay and rot for her crimes. But as it was, she had no choice but to agree that getting out of there now was the best decision and to let bygones be bygones…for now, at least. She'll argue later, when her and Henry's lives aren't at stake.

Emma helped Henry to stand, but kept a firm hold on his hand. While she may believe that fighting now could very well be suicidal, that didn't mean that she was going to relinquish Henry completely to Regina.

"Alright, time to go".

* * *

Snow White blinks slowly, trying to make sense of her thoughts. For a moment, everything appears to be spinning, images and sounds of her life and the life of the woman Mary Margaret rushing through her head. She blinks again, and she starts to take in her surroundings as she feels herself awaken more and more. She can still feel the other woman, her other self, but it's becoming more subtle now. She may be Snow White now, but it feels like that this Mary person isn't completely gone either. How peculiar.

Focusing on her surroundings now, she realizes she's in Emma's nursery, or what was once her nursery. The room has definitely seen better days, as it now lays in nothing but waste. It's like coming from a world full of color to one of black and white. Such a huge contrast to what she once remembered of this room.

"Snow!" a voice nearby calls out, quickly catching her attention at the familiarity of it. She would know that voice anywhere.

"Charming!" she cries as she turns around, in search of her husband. Her eyes catch a hold of him in no time at all, and she is quick to dash to her husband's side. Before she even registers it, she's in his arms and they are sharing a kiss that almost makes up the twenty-eight years of absence.

Breaking apart, they stare at each other before looking around them. If the evidence of the curse wasn't surrounding them, they would almost believe it was all a dream. That they never went to this land of no magic called Storybrooke, living a lie for twenty-eight years as they unknowingly wait for their daughter to come break-…daughter. Wait a moment…Snow's eyes widen.

"Emma!" Snow calls out, leaving Charming's arms as she desperately searches for her child. Emma, she knows now, was there with them in Storybrooke; so where was she now? Snow sees the wardrobe and runs to it, quickly opening the hatch and looking inside. If she and Charming returned to the room they left in, surely Emma would be where she was last seen as well. "Emma!"

Snow's heart clenches painfully as she sees the wardrobe empty.

"She's not here, dearie" someone growled lowly. Rumpelstiltskin appeared at the window, glaring daggers at the wardrobe. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. All the work he had to do, for naught. "No, no…she's still in Storybrooke. If there is still such a place, that is."

"No…" Snow whispered tearfully, slowly inching her way towards the imp. "No! That can't be! The curse is broken; we were supposed to be together now! This isn't how it's supposed to be!" She grabs Rumpelstiltskin by the shoulders and forcefully shakes him. "Bring me my daughter!"

Charming comes up and gently wraps his arms around his hysteric wife, pulling her away from the imp. "Why did this happen?" he questioned sternly.

"Everyone that was cursed was brought to Storybrooke. When the curse broke, everyone came back. Your precious daughter was never cursed, and therefore wouldn't have been brought back here the same way as those that were. And unfortunately for her, that wardrobe had only a one way ticket."

The newfound parents' eyes widen before a shrill cry could be heard coming from Snow's lips, as she slowly slumps to the ground in despair.

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A/N: First chapter author's note, yay! So yeah…it's been quite some time since I've last written anything. But even so, I'm quite proud of this little piece. Granted, I'm sure there are mistakes and clichés everywhere but hey, give me a break? I have to get used to writing again and try to remember how to do so correctly. :P

Little info: this is where I shall be putting random little one-shots, or snippets if you will, that go through my silly head. Some stories will probably be my take on some things, so expect to see some things you may have felt like you've read before (though I do not wish to copy – if you see something that is too close to another's, please say so and I'll either revise to make it more original or just take it down completely. I would never purposely copy anyone, I may be inspired but I wouldn't go out and take their story and just edit it a bit and call it my own). Also, the title is subject to change, but for now, it shall do. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy what's to come!

Anyways, here's the first little snippet that I would like to present. Some things may be incorrect, like characters and details, and you're welcome to point them out to me so I can fix those little facts (if it doesn't ruin the whole story, that is). But most of all, remember that this is an alternative universe and therefore things are different.

…I feel like this is incomplete. There may be a part two sometime in the future. Or someone could make a full story out of it? Or I could, possibly (though with just getting back into writing again, I kind of want to take it slow, hence the snippets. I'm training, I suppose you could say). We'll see. Is there already a story like this out there?

(and don't worry, you won't be seeing this long of an author's note again. Not unless something comes up that I absolutely feel the need to share, but otherwise, long author notes will be left to first chapter introductions)

So I hope you enjoyed this little story and will come back for the next one! Thanks for reading!


	2. Sunburn

Sunburn

Summary: Snow warns Emma to put sunscreen on, but naturally her daughter thinks she doesn't need it.

Family

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"Don't need it" Emma brushed her mother off as she goes and picks up her bag before heading towards the door. Henry grins up at her, some traces of sunscreen on his face still evident from when he smudged it on just moments ago.

"Then why have Henry put the lotion on if it's not needed? As you can see, the sun is beating down today, you're going to need it, and you know it" Snow crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, I can see the sun and I can also feel how hot it is. But I never burn, so I don't need to worry about it. Besides, it feels gross."

"Emma, I really think you should put some on. Just in case, okay? At least bring it with you?"

"Look, I'm just taking my kid out to the shore for some fun, okay? He's lathered up real good, and I'll be fine. So off we go, we'll see you at dinner" Emma opens the door and ushers Henry out before sighing and taking the sunscreen. "Just bringing it in case Henry needs to bathe in it a second time".

* * *

Henry storms through the entrance of their little apartment, quickly making his way past his grandfather and towards the bathroom. David quirks an eyebrow, a small smirk making its way on his face as he looks toward the front door as he waits for the other half of the party to come through. He didn't have to wait long as Emma then slowly walks in. While his attention was on her, however, he didn't notice the little boy coming back out of the restroom and dashing up the stairs as he tried to keep a bottle out of view. Unfortunately for the beach-goers, a certain mother walked in from her bedroom just in time to see what Henry was hiding as he made his way up the stairs.

Putting two-and-two together and waiting only a moment after Emma finished her brief conversation with her husband, Snow quietly made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom her daughter and grandson were sharing.

"Didn't need it, huh?"

Emma jumped and turned to face her mother, quickly placing the bottle of Aloe Vera Gel behind her back. Snow smiled softly, her little girl giving off the perfect picture of a child trying to hide something they weren't supposed to get into. She could imagine her Emma getting into a lot of these types of situations when she was indeed just a child. Before she could dwell too much on that, she stepped forward and gave Henry a pat on the back. "How about you go out and help your grandpa find some firewood? We thought we could have a bonfire out in the woods later tonight. I'll help Emma with her sunburn."

Henry glanced towards his mother and after receiving a defeated sigh and nod in return, he made his way out, grinning. After all, he always did like seeing his mother bond with her parents, even if it was just over some mild sunburn.

Once Henry was out and the door safely closed, Emma stared at her mother before turning around and taking her top off. "Of course I'll only get sunburnt in Storybrooke. Anywhere else I'm fine, but nope, Storybrooke has to bite me in the butt."

Snow chuckles, taking the aloe from Emma's before squeezing some of the green gel onto her hands and in turn onto her daughter's back. She feels the heat from the burn and gently spreads the gel, making sure no inch of skin is left untouched. Luckily for Emma, the sun didn't get her too harshly, though it's enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Snow frowns slightly, knowing her baby will be having a bit of a difficult time getting comfortable in bed tonight.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you had this all staged" Emma mumbles, staring out the window. "I mean, not once have I been sunburnt, and now lo and behold, here I am getting bathed in gunk that feels even worse than the sunscreen. By my own mom, may I add. You wanted this to happen, didn't you? One of those life lessons only a mom can have with her kid, right? One of those 'mother knows best, you should have heeded your mother's advice' and so on and so forth."

Before Snow could retort back, Emma continued on, "Though, you know…I don't really mind. If you did, I mean. Well, the sunburn sucks but being here, now…it's not so bad. Knowing I should have listened to you but didn't, and paying the price, only for you to come around and try to make it better despite the fact that I didn't do as you said. It's not so bad. You're not so bad" _at being a mom_.

Snow blinked back tears that were threatening to fall. Taking a deep breath, she finished soothing Emma's burns and started to rub off the gel from her hands and onto the discarded towel that was on the bed. "Yes, well…I'll be sure to tell the sun to not beat down too hard next time. I was only aiming for blushing pink, not candy apple!" she grinned and nudged her daughter's hips with hers before making her way out the door.

"Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

* * *

"To the beach!" Henry yells before dashing out the door, his towel flying out behind him like a cape in his rush.

"As he said" Emma grins at her parents, a bit of sunscreen still evident from when it was lathered on just moments ago.

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks everyone for stopping by and reading! Also, thanks to those that reviewed and followed last time, I really appreciate it!

I feel as though I didn't convey what I was aiming for with the conversation between Emma and Snow towards the end there. Hopefully you guys can see what I was trying to say. If not, ask away and I'll do my best to answer. That, or I'll go back and revise it.

For those that wondered if there will be a full story of the previous one-shot, I may very well do so. Or make another one-shot that relates to the first, you know? Either way, expect to see something relating to it sometime in the future. :)


	3. Henry's Surprise

Henry's Surprise

Summary: Henry decides to surprise Emma with something he made some time ago.

Family

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The sound of paper crinkling slightly can be heard as Henry peeks around the corner in anticipation. Quickly spotting the person he was looking for, he takes a deep breath before approaching said person. While he knew she wouldn't hate him for this, he still felt this shyness of showing her. He also wasn't quite sure how she would react. Would it be too mushy for her, especially when she's up this early on a day off?

"Hey kid, what's up?" Emma questions as she notices her son approaching, apprehension written all over his face. She quirks an eyebrow and sits up, giving him her full attention while she rubs the sleep completely from her eyes. She sees he's keeping one hand behind his back, but doesn't bring it to attention.

"Um…" Henry watches her face for a moment, trying to figure out her current mood. It wouldn't do any good if she was already emotional, he thinks. Seeing nothing but the light concern in her eyes, he brings the paper forward and shows it to her.

The paper shows a drawing of a woman in what appears could be a blue summer dress with short blonde hair. Eyes colored brown, a big grin on her face as she stands in front of what looks to be a lake. Underneath the woman are visible signs of an eraser taking out the name "mom" along with a bunch of other female names.

Emma stares at the drawing silently before taking a shuttering breath, "Is this supposed to be me?"

Henry nods, "I drew it when I first found out I was adopted. What do you think?"

Emma thinks (and feels) a lot of things, like how her kid also wondered what she looked like and attempted to bring his image of her to life. How he tried to put a name to her, never satisfied with what he could come up with. Rather than dwelling further, Emma smiles gently before bringing her kid in for a hug, "It's great". She pulls away and looks back at the picture, her smile forming into a smirk. "What made you draw me as a blonde?"

Henry shrugs as he takes a seat beside her, looking at the picture as well. "Well, I just closed my eyes and tried imagining what my birth mother would look like. And that's what came to mind. I don't really know why."

"Are you sure you're not able to see into others' pasts? Because this was once somewhat accurate, if you minus the brown eyes of course. But that could have just been the lighting, right?" her smirk grows, sending a wink as she knocks her shoulder with his.

Henry grins as he attempts to return the form of affection. "Maybe I get some super powers too for being the savior's kid."

Emma laughs as she gets up and heads toward the fridge. She silently places the drawing up against the cool exterior, choosing Henry's favorite magnet to hold it in place. She wasn't much of a morning person, but perhaps getting up to see this picture each day would just be enough motivation to get her going.

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Short but (hopefully) sweet. :) Just something I written up quickly while stuck with the oneshot I was currently working on (which I hope to have out soon).

Thanks for all the follows and reviews guys!


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